Summary: Why should we not settle for just a survival status?

Every man and woman in service of government has an attitude that we can learn from. It is not just the willingness to risk your life for the lives of others but it also has the mindset of being dissatisfied with a survival status

Key Scripture: (John 12:24 ESV) Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

(John 12:25 ESV) Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

There are 5 ways that having a status of simply surviving can get in your way

1. It keeps you from making the best decision for your life. There is a program on TV called Survivor. The object is to outwit, outplay and outlive the other competitors. It takes place on an island and there are various challenges that you need to participate and complete in in order to stay in the competition, They have to make decisions based on their current situation and one by one they are voted out of the game until there is only one person who is crowned survivor. You are responsible for making decisions that can affect your life for either the good or the bad and those decisions don’t affect only you but other people that are in your life as well

2. It can be an excuse for not being productive or living below the standards of life. Jesus tells a story of a man who went on a journey and before he departs, he gives every servant of his a talent based on how he would use it. The master returns and requires accountability from his servants. The first and the second one have been productive in the sense that they used the talents that the master has given them and have doubled the gift. The third one is not so lucky however as he hides the talent and does not put it to work. How productive are you in using God’s gifts that He has entrusted you with? (Matt 25:14-30)

3. It acts as a hindrance to us fully serving God. The only thing that can compete with God is money. That is why Paul says that loving money is the root of all evil. Invest your life in treasures in heaven, because where your treasure is there your heart will also be. (Matt 6:21)

4. It hinders you from taking the right kind of risks. What risks are you willing to take to see the Kingdom of God extended? Our police officers often die in the line of duty because they risk their lives to save our lives.

5. It becomes a trap to small living thinking. God’s purpose is that His church will do greater works than what Jesus did, because we have received the full measure of the Holy Spirit and He empowers us to do the same and greater works than that which Jesus did while on the earth. Get your mind set on greater things and don’t think small (Joh 14:12)

People who lived with a non-survival status

1. Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego. They were given a choice of bowing down before the king’s statue that he had set up and they believed God would save them even in the midst of a blazing fiery furnace but their attitude was this: We will not turn back and even if God doesn’t come through, we refuse to bow. (Dan 3)